India, April 10 -- Microbial methane leaking from Canada's non-producing oil and gas wells is nearly 1,000 times higher than previously estimated.

Using geochemical analysis of 401 wells, researchers show complex mixes of thermogenic and microbial methane.

This reveals that inactive and abandoned wells can keep emitting long after depletion.

Microbial methane leaking from non-producing oil and gas wells is being emitted at rates nearly 1,000 times higher than previously estimated, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill University.

Microbial methane (or biogenic methane) is methane gas produced by microorganisms, specifically archaea known as methanogens - through the decomposition of organic matter in oxygen-depleted (a...